Thursday, August 19, 2010

whirlwind with the girls

It's been awhile since I last posted, but all for good reason. I recently returned to Parisian reality from a whirlwind trip around Spain & France with my mom and grandma who came to visit! Because I have 3-day weekends, I was able to hop around with them, beginning in Bilbao, Spain to see the Guggenheim Museum. We toured around Hondarribia (where I went with my class trip in June), San Sebastian, and Bilbao.

Hondarribia, España - revisiting the town that I'd gone to a couple months prior with my class

San Sebastian, España

Getxo, España - this was a pretty awesome car/passenger transporter, taking people from one side of the river to the other

the "puppy" - made entirely of flowers, in the main entrance of the museum

3 generations!

red sculpture on the bridge next to the museum

of course we had to go into a grocery store - in Bilbao, it seems like you can make your own blend of frozen veggies....

Po Po! (in the uber-modernly-chic hotel)

Mom and Po Po in front of a church on a hill somewhere...

Upon returning to Paris, I resumed my work schedule for the next 4 days, meeting them for dinners afterward.

Let's make the move from ultra-modern Bilbao to ultra-luxe Paris. Breakfast on the last day in Paris.

During my next weekend, we drove through Giverny to our final destination in Normandy. Mont-Saint-Michel was beautiful and charming, however it's crazy crowds will definitely make it a memorable experience. The American Cemetery was a sight to see with all of the white crosses/stars lined up in hundreds of rows.

hello, we meet again.

Monet's Garden in Giverny... this time with all the flowers in blooooooom!

as you can see, it wasn't the sunniest of summer days, but it still was gorgeous and charming

the one, the only Mont Saint-Michel! View from the long line of traffic all the way to the mount

I guess all the car traffic led to this huge mob of people trying to exit at the same time... it was a nightmare.

Balleroy Castle, from behind the gates... too bad there was so much traffic at Mont St-Michel we didn't make it back on time

the queen and princess in front of their summer home :)

American Cemetery in Normandy

Before returning to Paris, we quickly stopped to see the Bayeux Tapestry - an amazing piece documenting history. I left them at the train station in Paris while they headed up north to see the annual flower carpet in Brussels. Those 10 days flew by, and I wish I could've spent a few more days with them in the land of chocolate and fries (with a giant flower carpet).

Their last-minute decision to come to Europe was one of the best yet. I hadn't realized how much I missed my family until I spent almost 10 days touring around avec elles. Our 3-person group was composed of 3 generations... yup, 3 females representing each generation traveling around. However much I anticipated the day I had to drop them off and resume life in Paris, it was harder that day on the train platform than leaving them the day I left home last November. So happy my mom and grandma were able to come over ♥